There are many potential symptoms of stress which you may experience when you face more pressure than you can cope with. It can be difficult to recognise when you are stressed because you may not experience all of these symptoms and because many of these symptoms can be attributed to other issues. Stress is something that you are likely to encounter at various points throughout your life and despite the common myth, there is no such thing as good stress. By learning to recognise when you are stressed, you can take quick and decisive action to remedy the situation. You can learn to recognise when you are stressed by paying attention to your experience and learning the key signs.
3 Questions to help you recognise when you are stressed
If you pay attention to your experiences and become more self-aware, you can quickly recognise when you are stressed. The following questions will help you to raise your awareness and identify the key signs which will help you to recognise when you are stressed.
1. What feelings do you experience when you are stressed?
Your feelings are one of the most important indicators of your health. If you feel like there is something wrong; there often is something wrong. Your feelings are your body and minds way of telling you that you need to change something. Try to recognise the specific feelings you experience when you are stressed. If you recognise these feelings; whenever they arise, you will know that you need to check your stress levels.
2. How would others recognise that you are stressed?
If you are stressed on the inside, you can be sure that it is showing on the outside. You may think that you hide your feelings well but that is unlikely. Those who spend a great deal of time around you are likely to be able to recognise when you are feeling stressed as there are likely to be some tell tale signs. I am reminded of a former school teacher of mine who tended t o wear the colour purple when she was having a real bad day. If she was wearing purple, we knew to be on our best behaviour.
It’s rarely as obvious as the colour you wear but there will be indicators that your stress levels have been elevated. Maybe you start to give short, blunt answers; or, maybe you become impatient. Ask the people you trust how they recognise that you are stressed. If you learn to spot these signs yourself, you can intervene earlier and prevent problems from arising.
3. What thoughts do you experience when you are stressed?
Most of your problems will start as thoughts e.g. even if you can do something; if you believe that you cannot, you will begin to experience stress when you think about it. Whenever you feel stressed, you will be having negative thoughts which are contributing to the problem. Maybe you feel that you cannot cope with the workload or that you are being unfairly treated. When you know the thoughts that you experience, it is easy to recognise when you are stressed.
If you are feeling stressed, check out Stress Free Living.
Stress is something which we will all experience at some stage in our life. It is a very unpleasant experience which can have very serious consequences. The earlier that you can recognise when you are stressed; the easier it is to remedy the situation. If you do not make an early intervention, you will experience a lot of unnecessary suffering, and the situation will be more difficult to resolve. Familiarise yourself with the answers to the 3 questions above and you will be better able to recognise when you are stressed.
Image credit: Chance Agrella